Last week, the Ohio House of Representatives approved a resolution asking the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to add Canada to its watch list of countries where religious liberties are threatened.
Canada would join 12 other countries on the list that are guilty of “severe” violations of religious liberties. Some of the other countries include Algeria, Azerbaijan, and Cuba.
One sponsor of the motion said that the restrictions on religious meetings made Canada one of the most repressive countries in the world.
The motion in the Ohio House of Representatives includes cases where church leaders were charged or jailed for ignoring COVID-19 public health measures that prevented church services and other large gatherings.
“While Ohio has stood up for religious freedom and protected the right to attend religious services, it is clear Canada has not done the same,” said Representative Reggie Stoltzfus, according to the Statehouse News Bureau.
Canada’s actions are “very similar to what we see in Communist-controlled China,” said Stoltzfus.
The Ohio Resolution said that Canada did not follow the “civilized practice of protecting places of worship” from government disruption.
Multiple Canadian ministers were arrested for violating the COVID-19 public health restrictions and the motion mentions James Coates, Artur and David Pawlowski, and Tobias Tissen.
Coates spent 35 days in jail for repeatedly violating the public health restrictions, including wearing masks and limiting the number of people at each service.
In Ohio, they did not force churches and other places of worship to shut down, rather their compliance was voluntary. Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio would have been more tyrannical, but he was contained by the Ohio legislature.
The motion passed the Republican-controlled Ohio House of Representatives.
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